At the border of Mexico and Guatemala lies one of the most fascinating and least known parts of the world, the cradle of ancient Olmec and classical Maya civilization. There the Usumacinta River and its highland tributaries form a tantalizing geographic unity that once undergirded the great achievements of the Maya. The man-made nucleus of the region's culture and spirituality was the canoe, the medium for the "Watery Path" connecting the sacred world with the earthly face of the cosmos.

Christopher Shaw (a skilled canoeist and former whitewater guide) has traveled these rivers by canoe, penetrating to the heart of an ancient and awe-inspiring landscape, and despite near death in a rapid, the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, and the murderous activities of drug lords along the river, he brings back to us a beautifully told and important tale.